They were dumbfounded. Not one of them would speak. Most stared. Some began to cry. After a few minutes, though, they gathered around him, and all began marching home again as the sun set. Tlukankus the thief, the only one who could find her tongue, sought out Deebus.
What he had done... there was no more doubt. He was the one, she told him.
He asked her what she meant.
And so she told him. Four tens of years ago, a great beast, the infernal many-headed Wraingi, found and plundered Scornhollow. The Hydra quickly snapped up those caught on the surface, then began tearing into their mound with it's great claws. As kobolds tried to duck down their holes and tunnels into the warrens below, they were pursued by Wraingi's heads, snaking down into the ground after them. Only those who made it below the ground level managed to survive. She had just barely escaped, but her husband close behind her was not so lucky. Kraykis was devoured in an instant. She could only stand senseless, waiting until the beast ensnared all it could reach and left.
All she had left was her infant daughter. But all their best scouts and watchers had been consumed in the raid, and so not long after, trolls set upon them unexpectedly. They ripped her daughter from her arms and all she could do was run away, even as the child's screams of pain chased her. She accepted and moved on, as kobolds must, taking solace that she herself still lived.
But now things were different. Deebus had shown that there could be justice for Kobolds. He had brought justice for his tribe, their tribe, and all the Kobolds of the world. Now he could help her get justice. Help her track down the Hydra and put and end to it.
He thought for a while. He had never brought anyone with him before, never dreamed of exposing anyone else to the danger. But Tlukankus was an experienced thief. She had ventured into the lairs of trolls and troglodytes and lived, stealing their treasure. And she had a fire in her heart, a will that might let her face the fearful things as he did.
He accepted.
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Topic: The journey of Deebus, a kobold story. (Read 193814 times)